Cherry splitter



C. D. RUSSELL CHERRY SPLITTER Dec. 28, 1937.

Filed Deo. 3, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 C. D. RUSSELL CHERRY SPLITTER Dec.2s, 1937.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2v Filed Dec. 3, 1934 Patented Dec. 28, 1937 NITED STATESFFlcE i 'rf CHERRY SPLITTER f Application December 3, 1934, Serial No.755,676

v 2 Claims. (Cl. 14S-73) This invention relates to a machine for thesplitting or severing into halves fruit, and particularly cherries.

' It is an object of this invention to provide a machine for the halvingof fruit such, for eX- ample, as cherries, which machine includes ameans for cutting the cherries or fruit into halves, and a conveyermechanism adapted to receive the fruit to separate the fruit into asingle iile relationship, and to hold thefruit in position forpresentation to cutting or splitting mechanism so that all of the fruitwill be properly halved.

Other objects and advantages of this invention it is believed will beapparent from the following detailed description of a preferredembodiment thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan View of a fruit splitting machine embodying myinvention. t Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof. Y Figure 3 is asectional side elevation taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure1.

Figure 4 is an end elevation thereof.

Figure 5 is a sectional end elevation taken sub- `stantially'on the line5-5 of Figure 3.

In the preferred embodiment of lmy invention as illustratedin theaccompanying drawings, I indicates a frame which may be of any suitableor desirable construction which includes frame 55 Mounted on the puueyshafts s and 1 are beit pulleys 8, 9, II) and II respectively. Mountedon supporting blocks I2 and I3, Supported on the frame I are belt guidemembers I4 and I5. Trained over the pairs of pulleys 8 and lil and 9 andII, respectively, are belts I6 and Il. The belts I6 and Il are beveledbelts frusto-conicalin cross section with converging adjacent sidefaces, and are mounted in inverted position, that is, with the:truste-conical portions of the cones upwardly away from the pulleys toprovide between the spaced belts I6 and Il a trough I6 which issubstantially V'shaped in cross section and into which the fruit isadapted to be delivered.

Onev of the guides I5 is adjustably mounted in position so that it maybe moved to or from the lother guide I4 to thereby move the belt Il toor from the belt I6 tovary the cross-sectional dimension ofthe troughI8. In order to accomplish this, the guide I5 is secured in position bymeans of bolts I9 which are mounted through elongated slots 20 formed inthe frame structure so that upon loosening ofthe bolts I9, the guides I5may be adjusted as desired orrrequired. 1

In order -to maintain the pulleys Ian'd I I Vand 8 and 9 properly spacedas the guides I5 are ad-l justed the pulleys aresupported upon theshafts 6 and 'l preferably as follows: n

Y The pulleys areV secured to theshafts in any suitable or desirablemanner so as to rotate with the shafts. In order to maintain the pulleysadjustably spaced as desired, Va capA screw ,2| is threaded through theflange of one of the pulleys in position to engage the flange of theopposite order that the pulleys will not separate more .than thedistance determined by the threading of the trough I8 located inthe gapbetween the lower edges of the side walls 25.

In order that the cherries or fruit may be positioned rmly within thetrough I8 between the belts I6 and Il and in single le relation in thistrough, yielding means are provided above the conveyer` which areadapted to engage and hold back all the cherries or fruit except a lineof the fruit that rests directly on the conveyer, and this insures thatthe fruit will move with the conveyer only in single iile relation. Inorder to accomplish this result, there is mounted upon standards 25'above the conveyer,` resisting Aour tains composed of yieldingvelements, and preferably consisting of brushes 2l, the bristles 29 ofwhich will'yield under pressure, and which extend downwardly inYsubstantial conformity withthe contour of the sides 25 of the hopper 24and into the trough I8 to engage and hold back all the cherries except aline of the same resting directly on the conveyer.

These curtains substantially fill the cross-section of the trough andextend down to a point near the conveyer.

The brushes 2l are preferably mounted progressively along the conveyerand in position to insure the positioning of the cherries rmly inposition in the trough I8 between the belts I6 and Il. By reason of thefact that the bristles that engage the line of cherries held on theconpulley, thus maintaining pulleys spaced apart. In Y veyer are longerthan the other bristles, they will be relatively more yielding. In otherwords, by reason of their relative shortness the bristles that are notin contact with the advancing line of cherries Will be relativelystiffer and more adapted to perform their function of holding back thecherries not in the line of advance. As the cherries are advanced insingle file relation resting directly on the conveyer and firmly held,they are delivered continuously to a rotary cutting blade 29, theperiphery of which projects downward into and approximately through thetrough I8 so that as the cherries are moved into contact with the rotarycutting blade, they will be cut into halves.

The rotary cutting blade 29 is secured to the shaft 30 of a motor 3|,which motor 3| is supported upon the elevated portion 32 of the frame I.The rotary cutting blade is continuously revolved by the motor 3| andoperates the blade 29 to continuously halve the cherries as they aredelivered to the blade by the moving conveyer.

In order to drive the conveyer, a motor 33 is mounted on an extension|at of the frame and in order to reduce the speed of the motor so thatthe conveyer will Ymove relatively slowly, a reduction gear drive 35 isprovided for driving the drive pulley 36. A belt 31 is trained over thedrive pulley 36 and over a driven pulley 38 secured to the shaft 6.

In order to take the halved cherries or fruit away from the blade 29 andout of the V groove I8 formed in the conveyer, a stripper plate 39 isprovided which has a V point 40 which propects into the V groove I8 tostrip the halved cherries from the conveyer. The halved cherries arethen allowed to fall through the frame either into a container or onto afurther conveyer for moving the halved cherries to a further processingapparatus.

A blade guard 4| is secured to the frame and extends over the peripheryof the sharpened blade 29 to protect the operators. Y

A belt tightener is provided in order to maintain the belts I6 and I1 inproper tension, and for this purpose the bearings 5 for the shaft 1 aremounted in slide blocks 42 in the end of the frame I, and adjustmentbolts 43 are threaded through the blocks l2` so as to adjustably movethe bearings 5 to or from the bearings 4 as required for the purpose ofmaintaining the proper tension in the belts I6 and In order to providefor the most eflicient operation of the cherry splitting deviceembodying my invention, it is preferable that the conveyer formed in thebelts I6 and be inclined downwardly toward the rotary halving blade 29,as will be apparent from an inspection of Figures 2 and 3 of thedrawings.

Having fully described my invention, it is to be understood that I donot wish to be limited to the details herein set forth, but my inventionis of the full scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a machine for halving cherries, the combination of a hopper withconverging side walls disposed apart to form a gap at their lower edges,a conveyer supported independently of said side walls and onto which thecherries descend down said walls, the conveyer including inverted V-shaped belts mounted in spaced relation to provide in conjunction withsaid converging side walls, a V-trough with downwardly converging faces,spaced apart grooved pulleys over which the belts are trained, means forrelatively adjusting the spaced pulleys to vary the transverse dimensionof the groove between the belts, a plurality of yielding curtainslocated Within the trough substantially lling the cross section of thetrough at its bottom and extending down to a point near the conveyer forengaging and holding back the cherries except a line of cherries withinthe V trough and supported directly by the belts in single le relation,a rotary splitting blade positioned over the conveyer with its periphery projecting into the trough, the converg ing side walls of thehopper and the conveyer extending continuously up to the cutter, andmeans for driving the rotary splitting blade to split the'fruit as thesame is conveyed by the conveyer past the rotary blade in single lerelation. l

2. In a machine for halving cherries, the combination of a hopper withconverging side walls disposed apart to form a gap at their lower edges,a conveyer supported independently of said side walls and onto which thecherries descend down said walls, the conveyer including inverted V-shaped belts mounted in spaced relation to provide in conjunction withsaid converging side Walls, a V trough with downwardly converging faces,spaced apart grooved pulleys over which the beltsare trained, aplurality of yielding curtains located within the trough substantiallyfilling the cross section of the vtrough at its bottom and extendingdown to a point near the conveyer for engaging and holding back thecherries except a line of cherries within the V trough and supporteddirectly by the belts in single le relation, a. rotary splitting bladepositioned over the conveyer with its periphery projecting into thetrough, the converging side Walls of the hopper and the conveyerextending continuously up to the cutter, and means for driving therotary splitting blade to split the fruit as the same is conveyed by theconveyer past the rotary blade in single le relation.

CLYDE D. RUSSELL.

